The unique weather history of leap day, from snowstorms to tornadoes
Because it only comes around every four years, leap day weather has some unique lore, from hot to cold and snow to tornadoes.
A leap year occurs once every four years, adding an extra day to the short month of February. Why do leap years exist?
Thursday marks the first Feb. 29, or leap day, since 2020. Because the date only comes around every four years, it makes for some unique weather lore.
Strong F-3 to low-end F-4 Tornado Damage along Adams Street, Fayetteville, Tennessee on Feb. 29, 1952 (NWS/Jim Cashion)
Another year known for leap day tornadoes was 1952. In Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia, eight twisters touched down, killing five people. The strongest was an F4 tornado in Fayetteville, Tennessee.
An F3 tornado hit the town of Payne in De Kalb County in Alabama, injuring 12. According to the De Kalb County Genealogical Society, "A huge neon sign at the Lefty Cooper cafe, which was in the south fringe of the twister, was given a firm, but straight adjustment on its pole; where the sign faced north and south, the twister turned it to read from east and west. The cafe, however, was undamaged."
Tornado Tracks during the "Leap Day Tornado Outbreak" in 2012 (TornadoArchive.com)
The biggest tornado outbreak recorded on leap day was in 2012. Forty-eight twisters spun up from Kansas through Missouri into southern Illinois and Kentucky, including an F4-strength tornado that traveled 26.1 miles through Harrisburg, Illinois. Fifteen people were killed by the storms.
The hottest leap day on record at official climate stations in the continental United States was 99 degrees at Laredo, Texas, on Feb. 29, 1940. On the other end of the thermometer, a record low temperature of 36 degrees below zero was recorded at Baudette, Minnesota, on leap day in 1980.
Tornado damage from the Leap Day tornado of Feb. 29, 2012 in Missouri (NWS)
A total of 2.66 inches of rain fell at Atlantic City, New Jersey, on Feb. 29, 1896, the most recorded at any official station on leap day. The most snow measured on leap day was in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, in 2012 when 13.9 inches of snow fell.
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Internationally, famous leap day weather tidbits include Windstorm Emma, which buffeted the United Kingdom with high winds on Feb. 29, 2008, causing havoc across the rest of Europe on March 1, and Tropical Cyclone Esau, which was located in the Coral Sea south of the Solomon Islands on Feb. 29, 1992. Maximum sustained winds were 140 mph with gusts up to 175 mph.
Correction: This article previously mislabeled the 2012 tornado outbreak as occurring in 1982, which was not a leap year.
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